The Greek Plays
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select with keen sight
a woman’s bedmate,
honor the strifeless union.
strophe
My fatherland, my home, may I
never lose you, my city,
never live a life of desperation,
a life hard to plod through,
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most pitiable of afflictions.
May death come first,
death to end my days.
No worse distress, nothing worse,
than to lose my homeland.
antistrophe
I’m a witness, I can speak
from what I’ve seen, not others’ tales.
For no city, no friend
will pity you
your dreadful suffering.
May he die without grace
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who cannot value his nearest, dearest,
nor unlock a pure heart. I myself
will never hold him dear.
(Aegeus, king of Athens, enters from the direction of the town.)
AEGEUS: Medea, joy to you! No one knows
a better way to greet a friend than this.
MEDEA: Aegeus, son of wise Pandion, joy to you, too.
Where have you come from that you visit here?
AEGEUS: I come from the ancient oracle of Phoebus.
MEDEA: Why go to the earth’s navel, where the god speaks? *45
AEGEUS: I asked how I might beget a child.
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MEDEA: Truly, you’ve had no children in your long life?
AEGEUS: I am childless, by the whim of some deity.
MEDEA: Have you a wife, or have you been celibate?
AEGEUS: I’m not unbound by the ties of the marriage bed.
MEDEA: What did Phoebus say, then, about children?
AEGEUS: Words wiser than a man’s understanding.
MEDEA: Is it right for me to know the god’s oracle?
AEGEUS: Indeed, yes, since it requires a clever mind.
MEDEA: What does it say? Tell me, if I may know it.
AEGEUS: “Do not loose the wineskin’s jutting foot…”*46
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MEDEA: Until you do what? or reach where?
AEGEUS: “…before returning to your ancestral hearth.”
MEDEA: Why sail here, then? What do you seek?
AEGEUS: One Pittheus, king of the land of Troezen.*47
MEDEA: Yes, the son of Pelops, they say; a righteous man.
AEGEUS: I want to share the god’s oracle with him.
MEDEA: Because he’s wise, has experience in such things?
AEGEUS: And because he’s dearest of all my allies.
MEDEA: I’ll wish you well, then. May you get what you want.
AEGEUS: But why is your face so drawn, your eye so dull?
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MEDEA: Aegeus, my husband is the worst of men.
AEGEUS: What do you mean? Tell me your sadness plainly.
MEDEA: Jason wrongs me, though I’ve done him no wrong.
AEGEUS: What has he done to you? Explain more clearly.
MEDEA: He’s put a wife above me, as head of the house.
AEGEUS: Surely he wouldn’t risk an act so shameful?
MEDEA: He has. Though once his love, I’m nothing now.
AEGEUS: Was he overcome by lust? Or loathed your bed?
MEDEA: Powerful lust caused him to betray his family.
AEGEUS: Then let him go, if, as you say, he’s no good.
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MEDEA: He longed to marry the daughter of a king.
AEGEUS: Who gave him his bride? Explain this, too.
MEDEA: Creon, the man who rules this land of Corinth.
AEGEUS: In that case I can understand your grief, Medea.
MEDEA: I’m ruined, and what’s more, I’ve been exiled.
AEGEUS: By whom? You name another, fresh disaster.
MEDEA: Creon drives me out of Corinth, into exile.
AEGEUS: And Jason lets this happen? I don’t approve.
MEDEA: He won’t say so, but he’s quick to accept it.
(falling on her knees) Aegeus, I beg, I grasp your knees and beard,*48
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I make myself your suppliant: Pity me,
pity my misfortune, unhappy as I am.
Don’t stand and watch as I’m exiled, all alone.
Receive me in your land and home, give shelter
at your hearth. So may your desire for children
be fulfilled, by the gods, and you die a happy man.
You have no idea what a windfall you’ve found.
I’ll end your childlessness, see to it you sow
your seed and reap children. I know a cure for this.
AEGEUS: On many counts I’m eager to do you
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this favor, woman: first, for the gods; then
for the children whose birth you promise me.
I’m beside myself, when I see that goal in view.
Here’s what I propose: if you reach my land,
I will try in justice to offer you protection.*49
But let me be clear, woman, on this point:
I’ll not consent to bring you away from here.
If you reach my house on your own, you’ll be safe there;
you can stay; I won’t hand you over to anyone.
Just free yourself from here without my help:
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That way my allies have no cause to blame me.
MEDEA: So be it. But if I might have a guarantee
of your promise, all would be good between us.
AEGEUS: Surely you trust me? What is it that worries you?
MEDEA: I trust you, yes. But the houses of Pelias and Creon
are my enemy. If the oath I ask for binds you,
you won’t send me away, when they come for me.
But if you make a pact unsealed by oath,
you might protect your friendships, be persuaded
by their demands. My position is weak,
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while they have wealth and power on their side.
AEGEUS: Your reasoning shows great forethought.
So, if it’s what you want, I won’t refuse.
Safer for me that I can show your foes
a pretext to refuse them, and more secure
for you. By which gods should I swear?
MEDEA: Swear by Earth and by Sun, father of my father,
and the whole race of gods, all in one.
AEGEUS: Swear to do—or not do—what? You say it.
MEDEA: Never yourself expel me from your land.
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Never, if one of my enemies wants to take me,
willingly hand me over, while you live.
AEGEUS: I swear by Earth, the pure light of the Sun,
and all the gods, to abide by what you’ve said.
MEDEA: Good. And what if you don’t fulfill your oath?
AEGEUS: I’ll suffer what men suffer who spurn the gods.
MEDEA: Go in peace: all is as it should be.
I will come to your city as soon as I can, once
I’ve done what I intend, got all I want.
(Aegeus exits in the direction of the town as the Chorus chant in anapests.)
CHORUS: I call on Hermes, son of Maia, to be your escort,*50
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Aegeus, and bring you home. May you achieve
the purpose you so eagerly intend,
since you have in my eyes shown you are
a good and noble man.
MEDEA: By Zeus, Justice of Zeus, light of the Sun,
now will I celebrate victory over my foes.
I have stepped onto the path, friends.
Now I expect my enemies will be punished.
I was in difficulty, and this man appeared,
a harbor so that I may launch my plans:
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to him I will fasten my ship’s cables
when I reach his city, the home of Pallas.*5
1
I’ll tell you all I plan. Accept my words,
although they give no pleasure to speak or hear.
I’ll send a slave from my house to ask
Jason to come and see me. I’ll
speak gentle words to him. I will say
I see things as he does: he’s married well.
The royal marriage he betrayed ours for
brings good fortune; he has judged well.
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And I will ask that my children remain here.
My reason for this is not to leave my children
in this hostile place, to be abused by foes,*52
but so that I can use guile to kill the king’s child.
I’ll send my sons with gifts in their arms,*53
a delicate robe and headband of beaten gold.
If she takes the ornaments, puts them on her skin,
she’ll die—and all who touch her—a terrible death.
I’ll anoint my gifts with a poison that can do this.
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That’s enough for this part of the story.
Now hear what follows: I weep
for what I must do; for then I’ll kill
my children. No one will give relief.*54
When I’ve annihilated Jason’s house, I’ll leave
this place, flee from the murder of my dear sons,
that unholy act I’ve steeled myself for, friends.
To be mocked by enemies is not to be endured.
So be it. What gain for me to stay alive?
I have*55 no fatherland, no home, no escape
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from disaster. I made my mistake
when I left my family home, when I listened
to the words of a Greek—a man who’ll now be punished,
god willing. The children I bore him
he’ll never see alive again; he’ll never have
a child with his new bride: the wretched woman
must die from my poison, a wretched death.
Let no one think me weak, worthless, or docile.
Let me be thought the opposite of these:
harsh with my enemies, gentle with my friends.
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Such people live lives of great renown.
CHORUS: Since you have shared your reasoning with us,
I want to help you and, at the same time,
uphold humanity’s laws: I forbid this act.
MEDEA: There’s no other way. But I excuse you
for saying this: you have not suffered as I have.
CHORUS: Will you steel yourself to kill your flesh and blood?
MEDEA: I must. It’s the only way to wound my husband.
CHORUS: And you will be most desolate of women.
MEDEA: So be it. More words before the act are useless.
(Medea turns to an attendant slave and gives her order.)
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Go now and bring Jason here.
In all things requiring trust I count on you.
Say nothing of what I’ve decided, if you wish
your mistress well. For you’re a woman, too.
(The attendant exits in the direction of the royal palace.)
strophe
CHORUS:
Sons of Erechtheus, fortunate of old,
children of gods, raised from ground sacred
and unconquered,*56 you who feed
on celebrated wisdom, who walk
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in brightest light with supple step on ground
where the nine Pierian Muses,*57 so they say,
created fair-haired Harmony:
antistrophe
They say that Aphrodite drew
water from the clear-flowing streams of Cephisus,*58
breathed on the land the sweetness of the winds’
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gentle breath; she wreathed her hair
with the scent of roses that bloom forever,
and guided Love to sit with Wisdom
and work together excellence of every sort.
strophe
How then will this city and its sacred streams
this land that gives gods escort*59
give a place to you,
child-murderer, stained and impure,
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among her citizens?
Imagine the striking of your sons,
imagine the slaughter you undertake.
Do not—we are your suppliants, we beg you
in every way we can—do not
kill your children.
antistrophe
Where will you find the resolve
in your mind, the strength*60
in your hand and heart
to summon dreadful daring?
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How will you look at your children
and hold to their slaughter, unweeping?
When they fall at your feet
in supplication, you will not be able
to dip your hand in their blood
with steely spirit.
(Jason enters from the direction of the royal palace.)
JASON: I’ve been summoned and I’ve come. I suppose
I owe you this, in spite of your ill will.
What do you want from me now, Medea?
MEDEA: Jason, I ask your forgiveness for the words
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I spoke. But it’s fitting that you put up
with my anger, since a great love came before it.
I’ve thought it through and I’ve reproached myself
with these words: “Idiot, why do you rave?
why resent the ones whose plans are good?
why be hateful to the rulers of this land and make
myself my husband’s enemy? He’s trying to do
his best for us by marrying a princess
and getting children, brothers for my sons.
No end to my rage? What’s wrong with me? The gods
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will see me through. Don’t I have sons? Isn’t it true
that I’m an exile, and in need of friends?”
These were my thoughts, and I knew I’d indulged
in folly. All my raging served no purpose.
So now I praise you. All you’ve done for us
seems prudent now, while I have been a fool.
I should be part of the planning, I should help
to make it happen, be there by the bed,
rejoice in my connection with your bride.*61
But we are who we are, we women. I won’t say
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that’s a bad thing, but you must not be like us;*62
you must not answer our silliness with your own.
I ask forgiveness. I admit my mind wasn’t
right then, but I’m determined to do better.
(Medea calls into the house; the children come out with the tutor.)
Children! come out here; leave the house,
join me in greeting your father, welcome him.
Let go of your hatred as I do mine,
exchange it for friendship, as your mother does.
We’ve made our peace; our anger has subsided.
Take hold of his right hand—oimoi!
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My thoughts turn now to hidden sorrows!*63
Oh, my sons, will you reach out your dear arms
like this through a long life—unhappy me,
how ready I am to weep, how full of fear.
I’m free, finally, of this quarrel with your father,
and my tender eyes are filling up with tears.
CHORUS: I, too, feel pale tears well up in my eyes.
The pain’s gone far enough; let’s have no more!
JASON: I approve of your words now, woman, but I didn’t
blame you before. It’s normal that women rage
if their husband smuggles in another marriage.*64
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But your feelings have changed for the better; you’ve
; recognized the winning plan—in your own time.
This is how a prudent woman behaves.
As for you, sons, your clear-thinking father
has found a haven for you, with the gods’ help.
For I believe, in the course of time, you’ll rise
to the top, with your brothers, in the land of Corinth.
So, grow up; let your father tend to the rest,
with whoever of the gods is well-disposed. May I
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lay eyes upon you when you’ve grown to manhood,
great strapping lads who tower over my foes.
(gesturing to Medea) You, why drown your eyes in pale tears?
Why turn your white cheek away?
Aren’t you glad to hear the words I’ve spoken?
MEDEA: It’s nothing. I was thinking of our sons.*65
JASON: I’ll make things right for them. Take heart!
MEDEA: I’ll do that, I won’t distrust your words. But women
are by nature delicate and prone to tears.
JASON: But why so headstrong in your grief for them?
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MEDEA: I gave them birth; when you prayed that they live,
I felt pity, not knowing if it will be so.
But you came to talk about a number of things.
Some we’ve discussed; others I’ll raise now.
Since the rulers of this land plan to exile me,
—and I know it is best for me not to live
where I’ll be in your way and the king’s way,
since I’m considered an enemy to this house—
I’ll take myself away, go into exile.
But our children—ask Creon not to exile them,
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so that they may grow up here, in your care.
JASON: I don’t know if I’ll persuade him, but I must try.
MEDEA: At least tell your wife to make an appeal
to her father—to exile the children.
JASON: Certainly. I expect that her I will persuade.
MEDEA: I’m sure you will, if she’s like other women.*66
I’ll contribute my efforts as well. I’ll send
some gifts to her, ones I’m sure are thought
most beautiful by far in all the world.*67
The children will carry them.
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(to an attendant slave) Quick,
get one of my servants to bring the dress here.
Her blessings will be countless, not just one:
she gets the best of men as her bedmate,
and these beautiful treasures which the Sun,
father of my father, once gave to his descendants.
(The attendant slave goes to the door of the house and receives the gifts from a household slave inside.)*68